Life-guard for street-cars



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. R. POLLARD.

LIFE GUARD FOR STREET CARS.

No. 550,421. Patented Nov. 26, 1895.

INVENTOR Mo W ATTO N (No Model.) R. POLLARD.

LIFE GUARD FOR STREET CARS. No. 550,421. Patented Nov. 26, 895.

' M QI I-i nummmlmgggmnmuum;

I nmmu E- III] WITNESSES: INVENTOR fl QM 0. x. ATTORNEY ANDREW H.5RAHAM.PHO'IDUTNQWASNI NGNILDG 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. r

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD POLLARD, or SYRACUSE, NEwYoRK.

LIFE-GUARD FORVSTREET-CARSV.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,421, dated November26, 1895. Application manuals, 1895. smart). 542,170. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: I

Be it known that I, RICHARD POLL'ARD, of

Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York,haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Life-Guardsfor Street- Cars, ofwhich the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to fenders or lifeguards secured tothe front endsof electric cars and cable cars for the purpose of guarding againstaccidents of running over persons on the car-tracks.

The object of the invention is to provide a fender which shall morepositively-pick up a person in front of a car in transit and land saidperson safely upon an apron supported in front of the car, upon whichapron the said person is carried along without serious injury to theperson; and to that end the invention consists, essentially, of .afender connected to the car movable longitudinally to and from aforwardly-projecting position, so that in its forward movement it picksup the person 011 the track in front of the car as aforesaid; and theinvention also consists in certain novel features of the details of thefender and auxiliary devices connected therewith, as hereinafter fullydescribed, and specifically set forth in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations of an endportion of a car equipped with my improved fender and showing the samein the two positions to which it can be adjusted.- Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse section on' line :20 w in Fig. 1, viewed toward the front ofthe car. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along the sideof one of the racks which carry the front end of the fender, and Fig. 5is a plan view of said rack.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents one of the end portions of a street-car, to opposite sidesof which are secured longitudinal guides B B. In each of these guidesslides a longitudinal bar 0, the top of which is either formed with orhas fastened to it a rack C. At the rear end of each guide B is asuitable spring D, which becomes compressed by the rear end of the bar 0bearing on said spring whenthe bar is pushed back, as represented inFig. 1 of the drawings.

To retain the bars 0 C in their retracted or rearmost position, I employsuitable detents, which are undercontrol of the person controlling thepropulsion of the car. For this purpose I preferably form said detentsof dogs or braces a a, attached to a bar I), which is pivoted at itsends to suitable supports on the top of the guides B B. Said detents areinclined rearward from the bar I), and are made to bear on the racks bya spring 0, attached to the bar I) and to one of the guides and exertingits force on the bar in such direction as to cause the same to hold thedetents in the aforesaid position. By releasing the racks from thedetents the rack-barsO Care forced forward to the position shown in Fig.2 of the drawings by the action of the springs D D.

For releasing the racks, as aforesaid, I attach to the cross-bar b alever e, to the free end of which is connected a push-barf, which slidesin a sleeve 9, depending from the platform P. In the upper end of saidsleeve is inserted the stem of a step g, said stem bearing on top of thebar f, and when depressed by the foot of the motorman it turns thecrossbar I), so as to throw the detents out of the racks C G.

I represents the fender-apron,which is preferably formed of stoutflexible wire-netting. This apron is secured at its front end to across-bar cl, attached to the front ends of the rack-bars O O. Theopposite end of said apron is attached to the top rail of the dashboardH or to some other suitable fixed support a proper distance above theracks and preferably above the platform P of the car. To properlysupport the central portion of the apron, I secure to said portion across-bar i, and extend lengthwise of the apron the chains jj, (shownclearly in Figs. 3 and 4,) which are directly under the apron andsecured to the front cross-bar d, rear supporting-rail, and intermediatecross-bar 2'. The apron is of sufficient length to allow it to sag, asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and in order to cause the portion ofthe apron between the crossbar d and z to be drawn to some degree towarda horizontal position and at the same time incline the upper portion ofthe apron sufliciently to leave ample space between the apron andplatform P, as shown at o in Fig. 2 of the drawings, I attach to theendsofthe intermediate cross-bar i wire loops or suitable hoops Z, whichloosely embrace the rackbars 0. The described position of the apron isvery important for this reasonviz.,when a person is thrown upon theapron by the front cross-bar cl striking the person crossing the trackthe head of said person strikes the rear portion of the apron, and thisprevents the head from striking the platform P.

To guard against the'catching of the hoops Z on the teeth of the racks Cduring the operation of pushing said racks back to the position shown inFig. 1 of the drawings, I

place under the top portions of said'hoops the shoes a, secured to thecross-bar i.

Tolock the described fender in its forward projecting position so astoresist the shock incident to' its collision with a person crossing'thetrack, I pivot the dogs 2% to suitable supports a u, rigidly attached tothe car or track. front ends of the racks and held in engagement withsaid racks by suitable springs v;

Theoperation of thefenderisas follows-2' Incase a person crosses thetrack. in front ofithe car running at high speed, the motorman presseswith his foot uponthe stop" 9, and thereby releases theracks G from thedetents a. Thesprings D then forcethe raek-bars forward, and impart tothem such an impulseas tocause the fender to becarried inteitsforwardly-projecting position, in which it isretainedby the dogs z-.Thefender'oan subsequently be pushed back by hand after throwing thedogs out of engagement.

To the cross-bar (Z are secured rearwardly pro ecting fingers p tosupport the folded por tion of the apron when the-fender is'pushed back.

hat I claim asiny invention is-- 1. The combination, with a street-ear,of

longitudinal guides, racks sliding iir said guides, a cross-barconnected tothefront ends of said racks, a fender-apron connected atoneend to said cross-barand at therear end toa support on the car,springs forcing the racks forward, dogs-locking the racks-in Said dogsare inclined toward thetheir forward position, and detents holding 5'0theracltsin their retracted? position as set forth.

2. The combination, with a street-car, of longitudinal guides, rackssliding in said guides,. across-bar attached-to the front ends 5 5 ofthe racks, a fender-apron attached at one end of said cross-bar and atthe opposite end it'o a support fixed to the car above the racks,

springs forcing the racks forward, a rocker bar extending across the tworacks, detents attached to said bar and; retaining, theracks in theirretracted position, and a manually controlled lever operating saidrocker-bar as set forth.

3. The combination, with street car," of :l'ongitudinal barsextendingfrom the end of a the car al cross-bar attached'twthe front endsof'said' longitudi'nal bars, apluralityofchaihs extending from saidcross-bar to -a fined sup-- port on thecar above the longitudinal bars,an intermediatecross-bar connected tothe chains to space-thesame; andafend'er-apron extending from the front crossbar to the aforesaiiilsupport on the carand supported intermediately' by the chainsas setforth.

The combination, witha street-car, of' longitudinally movable racks onopposite sides of the car, springsforeing' said racks forward, manuallycontrolled detents retaining. the racks-in their retracted position,dogs looking the racks in their forward position, a cross-bar attachedto the front endsof the racks, a plurality of chains extending from saidcross bar to a fixed support: on the ear abovetheracks, an intermediatecross-bar'at- 8 5 tacli'ed' to saidlch-ains,afender apron over thechainsand attached" at opposite ends tothe aforesaiiil cross-bar andchain-support, links suspended from the intermediate crossbar and-loosely embracing" the racks, and shoes onthe latter cross-bar andsli'ding'onihe-raclts substantially'as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my namethislth day of March,1895;

RIGHARD PQLLARDL [12. s] Witnesses-z 0. It. BENDIXoN, G. E. T'oMmNsoN.

